A Personal Breakthrough....Or Not

Doyle, K. O. (2008). Introduction: “Thinking differently” about the new media. American Behavioral Scientist, 52(1), 3-7. Retrieved June 17, 2010, from Sage Publications Online.

Hundley, H. L., Shyles, L. (2010). US teenagers’ perceptions and awareness of digital technology: A focus group approach. New Media & Society, 12(3), 417-433. Retrieved June 17, 2010, from Sage Publications Online.

Kraut, R., Kiesler, S., Boneva, B., Cummings, J., Helgeson, V., & Crawford, A. (2002). Internet paradox revisited. Journal of Social Issues, 58(1), 49-74. Retrieved June 17, 2010, from Communication & Mass Media Complete.

Replacing Humanity

“Laura Gurak and Smiljana Antonijevic have examined identity formation and social connection in Web logs, or blogs. Successors to the old-time personal diary and antecedents of the wondrously popular MySpace and YouTube sites, blogs are enormously popular sources of information, entertainment, advice, and persuasion. Gurak shows how blogs blur borders, for example, between the public and the private self; in particular, she raises interesting questions about why more and more people choose to share their private thoughts and feelings with total strangers” (Doyle, 2008, p. 4). This line of inquiry is directly at the heart of my dilemma with new media extraversion, which permits a torrent of perpetual personal disclosure that allows individuals to create a world where their thoughts and opinions have merit.

New Media Take-Over
The Internet offers a portal for individuals to speak freely and anonymously. This capability has transgressed the semblance of identity construction and interpersonal interaction into a realm of indecipherable consequence. New media technology has become a ubiquitous force driving the functionality of our daily existence, which we no longer have the competency to control. A normal human being, living and working in a civilized society such as ours, could not adequately functions without the use of current interactive technologies; they would be rendered communicatively void and therefore irrelevant.

Introverted Skepticism
My skeptically introverted perception of new media technology has continued to snowball as I feel that I am witnessing the proliferation of public depravity. Doyle (2008) briefly reviews some of the unfavorable effects brought about through the expansions of new media: “Isolation-connection and polarization-integration; cybersex addiction; [over]sharing the self; terrorism; and—depending on how you look at it—anthropocene” (pp. 6-7). However, since my viewpoint in the vast minority, I can’t help but to question its interpretative accuracy. Perhaps there is a happy-medium with which humanity and technology can independently co-exist.

A Glimmer of Hope
According to Kraut et al. (2002), “Having more social resources amplifies the benefits which people get through utilization of the Internet. Among extraverts, using of the Internet was associated with more family communication, increases in community involvement and self-esteem and declines in loneliness, negative affect, and time pressure” (p. 67). The benefits of an adult using the Internet versus a teenage, potentially offer a glimmer of hope for the future of new media technology in that; “adult Internet users were more likely to increase their face-to-face interactions locally, as well as their geographic proximity to distant relatives and friends” (p. 67).

Back to My Reality
Unfortunately this glimmer of hope was only able to last for a very short time because I was soon brought back to my pessimistically introverted mind-set as I continued to research. According to Hundley and Shyles (2010), “In terms of socializing and staying connected with peers with digital devices, particularly social network sites, a large ‘friends’ list is a pride object with many teenager, who equate popularity and perceptions of likeability with the number of people of their ‘friends’ list” (p.428). The unique capability that has been bestowed upon us as human beings has—without difficulty—been devalued as our most powerful medium of communication. Taking its place; our new social icon…digitally interactive technological machinery!

Marshall McLuhan

Internet and Everday Life

Orchard, L. J., & Fullwood, C. (2010). Current perspectives on personality and internet use. Social Science Computer Review, 28(2), 155-169. Retrieved June 16, 2010, from Sage Publications Online.

Postman, N. (1997). Science and the story that we need: Problems of the information glut. First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life, 69, 29-32. Retrieved June 17, 2010, from Academic OneFile.

Valkenburg, P. M., Schouten, A. P., & Peter, J. (2005). Adolescents’ identity experiments on the internet. New Media & Society, 7(3), 383-402. Retrieved May 29, 2010, from Sage Publications Online.

Walther, J. B., Van Der Heide, B, Hamel, L. M., & Shulman, H. C. (2009). Self-generated versus other-generated statements and impressions in computer-mediated communication: A test of warranting theory using Facebook. Communication Research, 36(2), 229-253. Retrieved June 16, 2010, from Sage Publications Online.


Interchanging Boundaries
“Our immediate challenge in CMC research has to do with refinement of theories, and the most important refinement has to do with the articulation of boundary conditions, which stipulate the contextual conditions in which different theoretical chains-of-events are expected to occur” (Walther, 2009, p. 748). “Researchers need to examine whether cross-contextual assumptions applied to some theories fit certain contexts after all, and set it aside when the assumptions do not fit. Efforts are needed to discern how and under what circumstances and with what inducements online communication facilitates one process or another, or movement between modes” (Walther, 2009, p. 750). “Since people communicate within any single relationship across many media we need to see how all these media fit together and define social life” (Walther, 2009, p. 751).

According to Baym (2009), "Online realms are no longer contained within their own boundaries; our interactions with one another are increasingly multimodal where most people connected online are also connected offline. We conduct our relationships face-to-face, over the phone, and online through modes as diverse as e-mail, instant messaging, social network friending, personal messages, comments, shared participation in discussion forums and online games, and the sharing of digital photos, music and videos" (p. 721).

Internet Interactivity
“The Internet provides numerous communication spaces in which people meet others. Through matchmaking sites, role-playing games, discussion boards, blogs, and social networking sites; people are constantly observing and interacting with others, seeking out family, friends, like-minded individuals, or even complete strangers to, in which a variety of influences may confront them in terms of how they make sense of both themselves and others” (Walther, Van Der Heide, Hamel, and Shulman, 2009, p. 230).

“The Internet also provides a means to take part in various online activities, for example, leisure activities (e.g., online gaming), social activities (e.g., online chat), and information activities (e.g., online newspaper). Patterns of Internet consumption tend to vary greatly and this is said to be a possible function of personality” (p. 155). With an aim to provide an overview for trends in personality and Internet consumption, Orchard and Fullwood’s (2010) findings “suggest that different personality types use and appreciate the Internet differently. Introverts are said to prefer online communication (specifically anonymous style interaction), more so that extraverts, because of the unique features of CMC, which helps them to access their “real me.” Extraverts, however, still participate in online social activities but may prefer to use activities that most saliently reflect their offline identity” (p. 165).

Exploring Self-identity
Valkenburg, Schouten, and Peter (2005) contend that, “Internet communication has several characteristics which may stimulate individuals to undertake identity experiments; (1) It is characterized by reduced auditory and visual cues, which may encourage users to emphasize, change or conceal certain features of their physical self, (2) Internet communication is anonymous, especially during the early stages of Internet-based relationships, and (3) Internet communication often happened is social communities that are isolated from those in real life” (p. 384). From their research, the authors found that “The most important motive to engage in Internet-based identity experiments was self-exploration (i.e. to explore how others react), followed by social compensation (i.e. to overcome shyness) and social facilitation (i.e. to facilitate relationship-formation)” (p. 397).

Personal Thoughts and Scholarly Reflection
In a summation of this post, these five scholars portray a fairly conclusive representation of the span through which new media impacts our everyday life. The boundaries between the “virtual” and the “real” have been blurred, and the interactional relations which transpire online have become just as relevant to people as those occurring offline. Due to the vastness of potential communication activities and opportunities found throughout the Internet, individuals often reflect upon the interactions they experience with others; utilizing these encounters to explore their self-identification.

I suppose that I am just in the absolute minority, because although I consider myself to be an introvert, my personal preferences do not follow any of the research findings. I have no desire to use new media technology to access the “real me,” or to explore myself, overcome shyness, or form relationships. Perhaps instead of labeling myself and introvert, I would be better suited to refer to myself as privately skeptical of the sea of “others” who compile the Internet’s virtual populace.

"Advances in communication have led to an information glut guaranteed to overwhelm individuals unless they have a comprehensive defining narrative to give the information meaning." This statement was presented by the late Neil Postman, a scholar of exceptional authenticity, whose writings often lend to the enhancement to my new media perspectives. In 1997 he cryptically proclaimed, "I believe we are living just now in a special moment in time--at one of those darkening moments when all around us is change and we cannot yet see which way to go." Although this way of thinking has become extremely trivial, my regard for it remains imperious.


COM 6270 Readings:
Baym, N. K. (2009). A call for grounding in the face of blurred boundaries. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 14, 720-723.

Walther, J. B. (2009). Theories, boundaries, and all of the above. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 14, 748-752.

Did You Know 4.0

New Media Technology: Youth Isolation or Youth Sociation?

Orleans, M., & Laney, M. C. (2000). Children’s computer use in the home: Isolation or sociation? Social Science Computer Review, 18(1), 56-72. Retrieved June 16, 2010, from Sage Publications Online.


“The findings presented in this study challenge the notion that heavy computer users experience social isolation; it was found that the interpersonal lives and computer activities of children reflexively amplified each other” (p. 56). “Although the online world may appear to some as a substitute for interpersonal communication—a virtual sociality that provides only a false sense of connections—it affords many opportunities for children to genuinely interact” (p. 58).

Orleans and Laney (2000) contend that, “Because computers are prevalent in the society, economy, and media, children who are only peripherally exposed to computers may be impaired not only occupationally but also socially in terms of everyday conversations. Children who find computers to be a source of sociality may have a competitive advantage at the organizational level over those who just use computers. Rather than isolating children, the social environment of computing may well prove to be more adaptive than mere possession of technical knowledge” (p. 69).

Although this article was published in 2000 and is somewhat outdated, I feel as if they were on to something, at least in terms of where the current research stands today. The issue of whether or not computers and technology takes away from the interactional capabilities and development of our younger generations has been a major issue since the beginning of the technological revolution. While some scholars such as Susan B. Barnes would argue that, yes, new media technology does indeed erode the foundations of our social development and therefore society as a whole; other scholars such as Danah Boyd take a more new-aged point-of view.

According to Barnes (2009) in an article she published titled, Relationship Networking: Society and Education, “In today’s society, the nuclear family has eroded, community is now based on communities of interest rather than geographic space, and personal interactions are conducted on the Internet instead of face-to-face. As a result, people do not know the basics of relationship building in American culture, which influences identity, democracy, and interactions with others” (p. 735). In strict contrast to the opinion of Barnes, Boyd make the claim that, "Teens turn to social media to reclaim unstructured social encounters, creating a public space which then allows them to simply hang out with their friends, peers, and cohort." From their utilization of social media, teens are able to navigate the real-world complexities of essential social interactivity.

Both Barnes and Boyd have relevant points, and I truly believe that both are right, but not in the same context. Barnes statement is accurate in the context of which we have previously existed throughout history, while Boyd’s assertion speaks more truth to the direction for which we are headed. It is unfortunate in many ways, that our society and the future generations are not going to cultivate and evolve in the same way that our parents and grandparents have; instead, just as Orleans and Laney (2000) predicted ten years ago, while Boyd was still a college undergrad, the interactional development and maturity of our youth will integrate and benefit from the advancements of new media technology.

COM 6270 Reading:
Barnes, S. B. (2009). Relationship networking: Society and education. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 14, 735-742.

Human Interaction vs. the Internet

Matusitz, J. (2007). The implications of the Internet for human communication. Journal of Information Technology Impact, 7(1), 21-34. Retrieved May 29, 2010.


The Summation of a Biased Report…
“The Internet is a powerful medium of communication” (p. 30). “One of the main concerns over the past ten years has been that the Internet has fundamentally influenced social interactions among humans” (p. 22), and has diminished both the quantity and quality of their face-to-face communication capabilities. For many individuals, the freedom and anonymity of the Internet allows them to take on a second identity; a uniquely subjective, personal creation of their own desire. The instantaneous global connection perpetrated through the Internet defies the logic of both time and geographical proximity. Overcoming these situated barriers instigated the necessity to redefine “community” in order to incorporate the functions of virtual communities.

“The word “community” implies that a group of people share the same environment and that all individual subjects in the environment have something in common; a virtual community is formed by Internet users at their own choice” (p. 23). “Although the Internet can diminish the quality of human interaction in normal, physical settings, it can also contribute to an improvement of the psychological well-being of online users” (p. 29). “Virtual communities and real communities share some common features, including social interaction, common goals, a sense of identity and belonging, norms and rules (whether written or unwritten), and a possibility for exclusion or rejection from community members” (p. 24); but unlike real communities, virtual communities offer to its members, the choice of anonymity. According to Matusitz, “What cyberspace really does is encourage online users to be themselves and express what is on their minds. This, in turn, makes relationships online more real than they actually are offline” (p. 25).


The Only Sentence Which Was Actually Worth Re-Typing
According to Matusitz, “for a scholar like Neil Postman (1993), the adoption of a virtual community is detrimental because it lacks the important element of accountability and mutual obligation present in real-world communities” (p. 24).


My Overall Reflection
This document was published in 2009 by the Journal of Information Technology Impact, which to my utter shock is a scholarly, peer referred journal! This is one of, if not the worst pieces of published writing I have ever read. The author was extremely biased toward the perception of an online extrovert, and had no problem asserting various unsupported claims.

Example one: “What cyberspace really does is encourage online users to be themselves and express what is on their minds. This, in turn, makes relationships online more real than they actually are offline” (p. 25). So through encouragement by cyberspace (whoever or whatever that exactly refers to) to be oneself and speak one’s mind, this will make online relationship “more real” than offline relationships? This statement is really just completely void of anything academic or scholarly.

Example two: “real human relationships on the Internet can develop and last for a long time. As one can see, the Internet solves many of the problems that prevent true relationships from linking people to one another in real-life situations” (p. 26). These statement just left me asking, “based on what?”

Example Three: “The Internet’s ability to make things float in an organizational structure that is horizontal, flat, consisting of flexible communication relationships is just magical” (p. 30). Even if this statement is accurate, who uses the word “magical”?


Potential Explanation From Malcolm Parks
What Will We Study When the Internet Disappears? was published in 2009 in the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication. The author, Malcolm Parks no longer considers “new media” to be “new”; claiming that “many Internet-based applications have become so commonplace and so integrated into our ever day activities that they are easily taken for granted” (p. 724).

According to Parks, “we should recognize that while the growth of the Internet has attracted large numbers of people to CMC research, the field has suffered from some of the same hyperbole and chaos that has characterized the growth on the Internet itself. Far too much of what we think we know about Internet use comes from uncertain combinations of commercially motivated marketing research, global surveys (e.g., PEW Internet studies), proclamations of self-appointed Internet experts, breathless first-person accounts, and low grade ethnographies” (p. 724). Scholarly research must become more descriptive of the communication process; moving “beyond social technologies and into the discourse regarding those technologies” (p. 727).

 
COM 6270 Reading:
Parks, M. (2009). What will we study when the Internet disappears? Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 14, 724-729.

Making Real Friendships in the Virtual Reality

Tufekci, Z. (2010). Who acquires friends through social media and why? "Rich get richer" versus "seek and ye shall find". International AAAI Conference on Weblogs and Social Media. Retrieved June 17, 2010.

“Who gains new friends from social media” (p. 170)? This question has remained at the center of academic and popular intrigue; arousing robust sentiments with its refusal to extinguish. “Today’s Internet is used by hundreds of millions of ordinary people who do not resemble the mostly-white, mostly male, tech-savvy netizens of the early days” (p. 171). To this end, “National data has shown that while there is no gender digital divide, there continues to be a significant divide between African-American and White households in terms of Internet access and computer ownership” (p. 176).

In this progressive age of new media, it have become essential “to understand the factors that enable, or inhibit the formation of close social ties through online connections” (p. 177). Narrowing the broad concentration of the abovementioned question, Tufekci presents a more direct focus in which he posits the question: “what is the impact of the person’s belief about the possibility of online friendship on actual relationship formation through social media” (p. 171)? “Addressing this inquiry subjectively, the author takes the point of view of the user, and examines predictors of acquiring new friends through social media use” (p. 170).

The obtained data enabled Tufekci to conclude that “new online friendships came by those who both believed it to be possible, and invested time in social media; with the results showing that these beliefs led to a roughly fifty-two percent higher probability of acquiring friends online, compared to those who did not believe in this possibility” (p. 176). These findings “suggest that online friendship might partially be a self-seeking prophecy” (p. 176); lending support to the ““seek and ye shall find” model, which assumes that, for a variety of reasons, people conclude that online sociality is real or “faux”” (p. 171). “It is also possible that causality runs in the other direction: people may have decided that online friendship was not achievable after trying and failing to acquire new friends online” (p. 176).

“An interesting result appeared with regards to race, and particularly African-Americans; in which the data revealed that black respondents were far more prone to acquiring friends online” (p. 176). “The odds of having met a new friend through social media use were independent of almost all demographic variables, except being an African-American” (p. 175). Offering a potential explanation for this outcome, Horrigan (2009) as cited by Tufekci asserts that, “African-Americans are more likely to access the Internet through mobile media, which suggests that a more intrinsic connection may exist between Internet use and sociality” (p. 176).

This assumption was briefly discussed in one of our very first reading assignments for COM 6270. This article, A Whole-Hearted Effort to Get It Half Right: Predicting the Future of Communication Technology Scholarship by Craig R. Scott (2009) provides six future directions for communication and technology research. In his second prediction, Scott contends that “Presence/virtuality studies are needed as wireless/mobile communication continues to grow because one of the social dynamics implicated in wireless/mobile communication concerns the ever-expanding sense of presence and virtuality that become relevant as communicators interact in various locales and experience various degrees of physical, social, and psychological presence with others” (p. 754).

As previously mentioned, Tufekci’s findings have indicated that African-Americans; who more frequently access the Internet through mobile media, are more likely to attain friends online. This assumption fits into the reasoning behind Scott’s prediction because mobile media facilitates Internet use anywhere and at anytime. Scott’s argues the relevance of this issue is derived from the personalized flexibility which mobile media permits to incorporate aspects of the virtual into the physical. The proliferation of mobile media has led to a conceptual transformation concerning the validity of online friendships/relationships; in that mobile media’s on the spot Internet access has legitimized the interactive sociality of virtual communication.


COM 6270 Reading:
Scott, C. R. (2009). A whole-hearted effort to get it half right: Predicting the future of communication technology scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 14(3), 753-757.

Highlights From Neil Postman

Neil Postman - Wikiquote: "Technopoly is a state of culture... state of mind... the deification of technology, which means that the culture seeks its authorization in technology... its satisfactions... its orders... This requires the development of a new kind of social order, and of necessity leads to the rapid dissolution of much that is associated with traditional beliefs. Those who feel most comfortable in Technopoly are those who are convinced that technical progress is humanity's superhuman achievement and the instrument by which our most profound dilemmas may be solved. They also believe that information is an unmixed blessing, which through its continued and uncontrolled production and dissemination offers increased freedom, creativity, and peace of mind. The fact that information does none of these things — but quite the opposite — seems to change few opinions, for unwavering beliefs are an inevitable product of the structure of Technopoly. In particular, Technopoly flourishes when the defenses against information break down."


Neil Postman: Informing Ourselves to Death
"In the case of computer technology, there can be no disputing that the computer has increased the power of large-scale organizations like military establishments or airline companies or banks or tax collecting agencies. And it is equally clear that the computer is now indispensable to high-level researchers in physics and other natural sciences. But to what extent has computer technology been an advantage to the masses of people? To steel workers, vegetable store owners, teachers, automobile mechanics, musicians, bakers, brick layers, dentists and most of the rest into whose lives the computer now intrudes? These people have had their private matters made more accessible to powerful institutions. They are more easily tracked and controlled; they are subjected to more examinations, and are increasingly mystified by the decisions made about them. They are more often reduced to mere numerical objects. They are being buried by junk mail. They are easy targets for advertising agencies and political organizations. The schools teach their children to operate computerized systems instead of teaching things that are more valuable to children. In a word, almost nothing happens to the losers that they need, which is why they are losers.”

Real Life vs Online Introversion

Check out this blog, Geek in Heels; and look for the entry titled, "Real Life vs. Online Introversion."

New Media Is The "New" Teen Hangout: Taking Back Their Freedom

Teens, Texting and Social Isolation

By Richard Ling

From the Pew Research Center, this article discusses the implications of teens and the ever-increasing time they spend texting as a main form of their social interaction.

"Teens appear to actually have more access and more informal, casual contact because of texting. This is because texting is woven into the flow of other activities. In essence their friends are always there and always available for a texting "chat." This interpretation follows from the material on texting in class, texting at night, and in a variety of other situations. Rather than becoming monks sitting in their cells, the material may actually point in the direction of more social interaction, not less."

I find his interpretation holds merit, but also feel that he is missing the greater issue. While teens are communicating more frequently due to texting, it seems as if their value for face-to-face interaction has steadily decreased. When sending a text message to another person, there is no real emphasis on personal mannerisms or non-verbal physical behaviors; which have the potential to weigh heavily on certain real-world interactions, like for example, a job interview.

As our culture continues to propagate communication in the digital form, the values we place on our face-to-face interactions will likely decrease as a natural reaction.

COM 6270 New Media Theory Individual Project Proposal: My Personal Blog

Over time I have come to think of myself as an online introvert; from this knowledge, it is my understanding that personal fulfillment now demands the actions of a socially prosperous, committed media participant. Through recognition of this individual consciousness, I theorize what it means to “self-identify” in this era of new media technologies. To date, most of the research has focused on the functions of online extroverts. For this reason, it is my intention to create a blog that highlights my personal views as an online introvert in relation to various other new media theorists.

I believe Neil Postman sums it up best through the title of his 2004 article, “The Information Age: A Blessing or a Curse?” There are many positive aspects concerning the evolution of new media technology, which often dominates the realm of intellectual discussion; but what about the negative implications? Development of new media has increasingly begun to exceed the capacity of human control, yet we continue on our path into unfamiliar territory. It’s often good to think optimistically, but it is just as important to consider the many diverse possibilities that could lead to adverse outcomes. These perpetuating issues stemming from the tumultuous technological advancements of new media development will underscore the essential structure for which my blog is to be constructed.

From the creation of this blog, I will assess the standpoints of other new media theorists in relation to my established theoretical perspectives as a self-identified online introvert. However, in order to meet the requirements of this project, the actions demanded from my blogging experience will be those utilized by an online extrovert. According to Gonzales and Hancock (2007), “Repeatedly posting extroverted posts to a blog could potentially lead to a subtle, but permanent shift in the self-concept” (pp. 21-22).

Extroverted Blogging

Gonzales, A., & Hancock, J. (2007). Self-concept change in online environments. National Communication Association Conference. Retrieved May 27, 2010, from Communication & Mass Media Complete.

"In the twenty-first century, the Internet has given rise to new forms of self-presentation" (p. 3); one of which is the activity of blogging. "Blogs, podcasts, videocasts, YouTube, Myspace, and other self-centered computing phenomena have shifted the emphasis of social computing from interpersonal communication to a new user-friendly, mass communication" (p. 3).

According to Gonzales and Hancock (2007), “Repeatedly posting extroverted posts to a blog could potentially lead to a subtle, but permanent shift in the self-concept” (pp. 21-22). In creating this blog to express my introverted perspectives, I have unknowingly placed myself in the position of an extrovert. The simple actions required for blogging are consistent with the characteristics of an "online extrovert."

Will this active participation in blogging on my behalf lead to a permanent shift in my self-conceptualization?

"The findings from this study suggest that if users consistently present a characteristic in online public spaces, they may gradually influence a more permanent shift in self-concept; this may have particular implications for blog sites dedicated to a certain topic, in which the context reinforces the self-presentation of a particular characteristic" (p. 23).

Following my completion of this blog, I will re-examine the question and assert my conclusion based on the cumulative analysis of myself in relation to the overall blogging experience.

Initial Thoughts From An "Online Introvert"

The rapid evolution of new media technology has taken our society hostage! Presently, any human being who functionally contributes to the collective operations of an industrialized nation exists within a reality of media and technological enslavement; whereby the very essence of one's personal and social fulfillment is contingent upon their committed media involvement.

Three weeks ago I began a New Media Theory course; COM 6270, offered through Wayne State University. Completely unfamiliar with this are of study; it took only two weeks of reading the assigned articles for me to fully realize my true level of ignorance. You see, I consider myself to be technologically illiterate; it's just not something that I'm good at. As a result, I have never really had any interest in the exploration of new media technology. Through propagating this pessimistic perception, I eventually came to self-identify as an "online introvert." I use this term to represent my whole-hearted resistance to the ever-increasing culturally conventionalized inundation of new media technology into nearly every piece of our cumulative human existence, especially within the home, and at work.

With every coming week, the new information I obtain continues to exceed my realm of comprehension. Media and technology have invaded the reality of our everyday lives, and for some odd reason, no one seems to be concerned with the potential ramification which may come about as a result. A technological expansion of this precedence has never before occurred in the history of the world, therefore we have nothing to guide our course of innovation, nor do we have a point of reference for possible comparison.

New media is evolving at a rate that is faster than we as humans are capable of keeping up with; call me crazy, but I think that this scenario has many ways in which things could end badly. Maybe it’s just me, but this seems a little offsetting that so few scholars are actually taking the time to consider potential implications of the negative consequences which may come to pass as a result of this total media takeover.

As previously noted above, I self-identify as an “online introvert", which apparently places me in the minority. My non-conforming, cautionary views of media and technology are for the most part, in strict contrast to the majority of discussions concerning these subjects, which often take the stance of an “online extrovert.” The main objective within this blog will be to showcase my introverted point of view in relation to the standpoint of other new media theorists. In this day and age of Facebook, Second Life, YouTube, and so on, most of the younger generations who were brought up utilizing these new media technologies have probably never stopped to ponder a world without access to instant live wire.

The future of new media technology requires profound consideration. Where we reside currently is uncharted territory; now more than ever, it is absolutely essential to think outside the box, and to consider possible implications from all sides spectrum. Some of the more thought-provoking issues which have come up throughout the course of reading our assigned articles, have dealt with matters concerning the effects of an increasingly sophisticated capacities demonstrated by artificial intelligence, how we might come to distinguish an amalgamated world consisting of the virtual and the real, and what we might hold up as the discerning characteristics representing the differential treatments we consider appropriate for both humans and machines?